‘I don't want to get involved’: Nurse overhears patient's plan of using someone else's health insurance, decides to risk her career and not report them

Author image for Bar Mor Hazut
Bar Mor Hazut • Senior Editor
May 19, 2024 1:00 PM EDT

Different countries have different benefits that can appeal to their citizens. In some countries, it is extremely affordable to buy a house, in some countries the average salary allows citizens to live comfortably for most of their lives, and some countries have great healthcare plans that put citizens' minds at ease.

The US is not great when it comes to the latter, and many American citizens daily worry about their health because they simply cannot afford to go to a doctor, probably like the patient described in this Reddit story. OP (original poster) is a nurse in training, and she overheard a patient talking in Spanish with her mom about using someone else's health insurance. OP, who knows firsthand how expensive healthcare can be, decided to risk her career and not report the patient about the potential fraud. The later comments from Redditors pointed to split opinions about the matter.

Scroll down to read the full story. After you are done, click here for a story of twin sisters who discovered that one of them is adopted.

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  • 01
    "Healthcare is just too expensive" 100 MF458838780
    via Canva
  • 02
    I'm in nursing school and I think I saw a patient commit insurance fraud.
    via u/Michele_Twilight
  • 03
    Just because someone's speaking a different language with their family in public doesn't mean it's a totally private convo. That language they're using, chances are they didn't invent it themselves. And
    via u/Michele_Twilight
  • 04
    if it's Spanish, that's one of the most commonly spoken languages here in the US. PSA: Keep that in mind if you speak a different language, okay?
    via u/Michele_Twilight
  • 05
    I am in nursing school. I have a clinical at the ER. In the waiting room, I overheard this mom talking to her daughter in Spanish. I don't actually know if they're mom and daughter, but it looked like it. The mom was
    via u/Michele_Twilight
  • 06
    telling her to make sure she had a different person's address and DOB right. She even said not to act suspicious about it and that if the she didn't remember, just don't answer and the mom would answer.
    via u/Michele_Twilight
  • 07
    And just a few minutes later, something interesting happened. A nurse was helping them, the nurse asked a few questions to identify the patient, and she gave those exact same patient identifiers to
    via u/Michele_Twilight
  • 08
    the nurse that they had been talking about earlier! The name they registered was someone we didn't have any records for at the hospital.
    via u/Michele_Twilight
  • 09
    You know I would never encourage anyone to pretend to be someone else and use their insurance - that's totally illegal. But oh my gosh, healthcare is just so crazy expensive these days. If that's
    via u/Michele_Twilight
  • 10
    what someone has to do to get the treatment they need at a price they can afford, I can't help but feel for them, you know? I bet that actually happens kind of a lot.
    via u/Michele_Twilight
  • 11
    Would I tell on them for that? No way, never ever! That's just not my place at all. This kind of thing happens way more often than we realize. It reminded me of something that went down in my own family a few years back.
    via u/Michele_Twilight
  • 12
    Maybe I shouldn't say this, but when I was 18, I feel like my cousin might have done the same thing. She was visiting from out of state and had to go to the ER for something. I didn't put two and two together at the
    via u/Michele_Twilight
  • 13
    time, but we started getting hospital bills in the mail afterwards for a $30 copay. Back then, all that insurance stuff was way too confusing for me (and let's be real, it still kind of is).
    via u/Michele_Twilight
  • 14
    Also, don't they just need like three identifiers to admit a patient? I don't know if that's the rule at my clinicals or if it's like that at other hospitals too. But my cousin knows my birthday, my address, my phone
    via u/Michele_Twilight
  • 15
    number. If she wanted my insurance card, she could probably find it at my house. Like I said though, I'm not gonna do anything like that myself and I won't be a part of it. With the thing with my
    via u/Michele_Twilight
  • 16
    cousin, I don't know all the details and I don't really want to know more, you know? That one kind of involves me, so I especially want to turn a blind eye to it. I'm just getting this off my chest here.
    via u/Michele_Twilight
  • 17
    • Lumpy_Map_3757 · 11 hr. ago I wouldn't care, it's not my problem. It's not like the hospital loses money. I'll say "I had no idea" if anyone ask. People need help and sometimes insurance is what's stopping them.
    via u/Lumpy_Map_3757
  • 18
    wyowow. 11 hr. ago You didn't see anything and should sleep well at night having seen nothing.
    via u/wyowow
  • 19
    TRLK9802 10 hr. ago The person whose identity she assumed is going to get her medical bills. She's totally over someone and this is going to be a nightmare for that person. That person is going to have a of a time convincing the hospital thst someone stole her identity.
    via u/TRLK9802
  • 20
    Wombat m85. 44 min. ago If anything I would've quietly said to them that I understood what they said and wasn't gonna take it further but they might want to talk a bit quieter next time
    via u/WombatB**85
  • 21
    JenninMiami 10 hr. ago • Oh boo, some insurance company didn't get to bankrupt someone. You didn't see !
    via u/JenninMiami
  • 22
    gladrags247. 2 hr. ago I'm reading all this and I'm grateful that I live in the UK. We really shouldn't complain about our healthcare system over here. Worrying about health insurance whilst you're sick must be the worst.
    via u/gladrags247
  • 23
    irregawdlessND · 6 hr. ago well, i would have the same policy as when i'm at the store, b/c of the cost of everything, "if you see someone stealing food...no you didn't". you're doing the right thing by not hearing it.
    via u/irregawdlessND

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patient insurance workplace-stories employee job nurse hospital tales-from-the-workplace reddit story health workplace healthcare Reddit money
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